Process of forming an end closure



Patented .Fan. 16, 1945 PROCESS OF FORMING AN END CLOSURE James E. Snyder, Akron, Ohio, assignor to Wingfoot Cor oration, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application August 1, 1940, Serial No. 349,291

1 Claim. (Cl. 93-6)- This invention relates to a process of forming an end closure on a flexible cigar container of rubber hydrochloride film. The package formed according to the invention is one from which the cigar may easily be removed by squeezing one end of the package to force the cigar out of the other end.

The usual seal made by heating overlapping plies of rubber hydrochloride film is a strong and thoroughly moisture-proof seal. It is so strong that if used on the end of a cigar wrap it is impossible to eject the cigar by merely squeezing one end of the tube. In view of the cigar wraps now on the market, a wrap with a tight seal which prevents easy removal of the cigar would meet with considerable sales resistance, and it has therefore become necessary to design a cigar wrap from rubber hydrochloride film, from which the cigar can easily be removed as indicated.

There are two general methods of making a cigar wrap. One is to form a tube from the rubber hydrochloride film and then insert the cigar in the tube. The other is to form a tube around the cigar. Either process may be used in carrying out this invention. To make the enclosure moisture-tight, it is desirable to form the long seam of the tube by heat-sealing overlapping portions of the rubber hydrochloride wrapper.

I have found that by employing a sufiiciently long tube a relatively moisture-tight package may be formed by heat-sealing one end of the tube, and then, with the cigar in the tube adjacent this seal, folding back on to the package a sufilcient length of tube to enable this end of the tube to be fitted under the cigar band placed at about the midpoint of the cigar. The cigar can be removed from such a package by squeezing the end adjacent the seal, so as to force the opposite end from under the cigar band and in this way permit the release of the cigar. Another method of sealing is to heat-seal oneend of the tube as before and then merely close the other end of the tube by a single or multiple fold, preferably with sufllcient pressure to eilect a crease, but without any actual coalescence of the film. Or both ends may be closed by folds. When cigars so wrapped are placed in a cigar box in the usual wa they are packed sufiicient- 1y tight to prevent the fold from becoming undone. This type of wrap I forms a relatively moistureproof container. Both such cigar packages are my invention.

According to the present invention, however, a somewhat different type of seal is formed. The seal may be used to close both ends of the cigar tube or the seal may only be used on one end 01' the cigar tube, and the other end may be closed with a tight heat-seal. The distinctive seal of this invention is made by the use of heat, but such a low temperature is employed that an easily broken union is formed between the contacting walls of the tube. The temperature is kept be-.

low the welding temperature, i. e., the temperature at which such coalescence of the two plies of film occurs, so that the plies cannot thereafter be separated except by tearing the film. For the .ing to around 200 F. or higher with pressure for a, sufi'icient length of time gives a permanent seal and this. of course, is to be avoided. The heatseal of the invention may be characterized as a. superficial" seal, and will be understood to involve a surface-to-suri'ace seal between rubber hydrochloride surfaces effected at a temperature below that required to produce coalescence of the plies into a permanent weld. The term superficial will be understood to refer to the nature of the bond rather than to the length or width of the area comprehended by the seal.

It is a distinctive feature of this invention that the rubber hydrochloride wrap has no inner coating. The wrap is preferably composed of unplasticized rubber hydrochloride, since that type of rubber hydrochloride is most impervious to moisture vapor. Plasticized film coated on the exterior with a moisture proofing coating may be used. Suitable coatings are available on the market. A coating which may be used is formed of Pliolite resin and wax, used in the proportions recommended for moisture-proofing. If the coating is not heat-sealable the seam along the length of the cigar may be formed by uniting the two rubber hydrochloride surfaces oi the wrapper.

I claim:

The process or forming an end closure on a flexible cigar container of rubber hydrochloride film comprising flattening an end of the container and uniting the opposing rubber hydrochloride walls at a temperature of approximately F. without coalescing the walls together into a permanent weld, but so as to cause the opposing surfaces or the walls to stick together in a superficial heat-seal which can be readily separated by pressure thereagainst of a cigar.

JAMES E. SNYDER. 

